The performance “Look at me” comes from my loneliness frombeing apart from my home country and difficulties in communication due to English being my second language. Repeated misunderstandings made me frustrated but made me eager to try to communicate with people via other means such as my art instead. Through my art, I would like people to reconsider what ‘communication’ means.

I created a table that holds a frosted plate of sheet glass between myself and a participant. When seated behind the glass, we were unable to see each other.

I licked the sheet glass to reveal myself to the participant. Licking is an intense way of showing my desire to break through the barrier, the frosted glass, and communicate.

Quotes

The two most compelling pieces speak not just to the impersonality of museums but also to broader issues of isolation and alienation.... Fumi Amano’s frosted-glass partition is designed to bring its users together in a playfully messy way: The glass will clear, allowing people on opposite sides to see each other, if both lick the surface at the same time. Emotional rapport is available, for just a moment, at a small cost to dignity.

- Washington Post Review "In the galleries: This art is begging to be touched, even licked" by Mark Jenkins